Marianne Murphy Zarzana
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"A Salty Sweet Nothing" in Notre Dame Magazine Online

4/24/2013

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One of my essays, "A Salty Sweet Nothing," was published in Notre Dame Magazine online yesterday. In the essay, I reveal how after 25 years of being married to Jim Zarzana, I finally gave him  what he really wanted all along.

Kerry Temple, editor of ND Magazine, and his staff do a terrific job covering not only the University but tackling the bigger issues around the globe. Check it out.
 

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Words for our Great River Poetry Reading and Community Writing Workshop by Florence Chard Dacey - May 16

5/3/2011

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SMAHC, the Southwest Minnesota Arts and Humanities Council, does great work in small and large ways to support the arts out here on the prairie. 

As stated on their website, SMAHC "seeks to encourage the growth and development of the arts and humanities in SW Minnesota by serving as a source of funds and technical services which enable local organizations, educational institutions and individuals to sponsor and/or create and promote the arts and humanities in their communities."

At SMSU, we appreciate all the financial support SMAHC has given over the years to fund visiting writers and writing festivals. 

I receive their bi-monthly Voices newsletter by email, a great way to keep up to date on local arts events and opportunities. Below is an upcoming event I encourage others to attend. Florence is a gifted writer and teacher.

May 16: "Words for our Great River" Poetry Reading and Community Writing Workshop led by author Florence Chard Dacey. For teens and adults. No previous creative writing experience is needed. Dacey will share some of her poems about the Minnesota River from 6 - 8 p.m. at the Redwood Falls Public Library, 509 South Lincoln, Redwood Falls. Free. Registration limited to 30. Pre-register by calling the Redwood Falls Library at 507-627-8650, by calling CURE (Clean Up Our River Environment) at 320-839-2494, or email dixie@cureriver.org
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"If I Should Have a Daughter..."

5/1/2011

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You may know about TED.com, the website that posts short videos of inspiring people in many different fields with "Ideas Worth Spreading," as their tagline goes. 

Writer Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of Eat, Pray, Love, has a moving and memorable TED talk on "Nurturing Creativity."

Sarah Kay, a spoken word poet, gave a TED talk in March titled "If I Should Have a Daughter....". In it, Kay "tells the story of her metamorphosis -- from a wide-eyed teenager soaking in verse at New York's Bowery Poetry Club to a teacher connecting kids with the power of self-expression through Project V.O.I.C.E. -- and gives two breathtaking performances of 'B' and 'Hiroshima,'" as noted on the website. 

Poets and writers may have a wide range of views on spoken word poetry, but it's a form that's both old and brand-new. In my creative writing classes, I show clips of today's best spoken word performers so my students can get a sense of the spectrum of poetry being presented today. 

At the SMSU Marshall Festival 2010 last fall, writer and spoken word poet Ed Bok Lee gave an electrifying performance. Here's what's been written about Lee:
 
"If there was a Minnesota spoken word performer who embodied Rockstardom...it’s Ed Bok Lee. His performance sparked some of the unconscious verbal feedback that spoken word elicits from its audiences, the sort of sighs and shouts that would be heard throughout the evening." 
-- MN Microphone


"A potent voice for young immigrants and their second- and third-generation peers, poet Ed Bok Lee’s...galloping imagination…describes what it's like to be part of a global generation." 
--Minneapolis Star Tribune 


What do you think of spoken word poetry? Who are your favorite performance poets? As writers and poets who perform our work, what can we learn from the best spoken word poets?

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The Moth

3/26/2011

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Want to hear some good stories that might spark stories of your own? Check out this website: The Moth


"The Moth – hailed as 'New York’s hottest and hippest literary ticket' by The Wall Street Journal – is an acclaimed not-for-profit organization dedicated to the art and craft of storytelling. It was founded in 1997 by the novelist George Dawes Green, who wanted to recreate in New York the feeling of sultry summer evenings in his native Georgia, when moths were attracted to the light on the porch where he and his friends would gather to spin spellbinding tales. The first New York Moth event was held in George’s living room and the story events quickly spread to larger venues throughout the city. The Moth has presented more than three thousand stories, told live and without notes, by people from all walks of life to standing-room-only crowds worldwide. Each show features simple, old-fashioned storytelling on thoroughly modern themes by wildly divergent raconteurs who develop and shape their stories with The Moth’s directors."


I watched a video of Michaela Murphy telling a hilarious story titled "Eye Spy" about her Irish Catholic family's connection to the Kennedy's. A great website to fill the writer's well.
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    I love to play with words. To capture moments on the page. To explore the physical and spiritual geography of what I call "fly-over country." I write from imagination, observation and my own experience of wandering in fly-over country--the literal, physical spaces of my life on the Minnesota prairie and the inner territory of the soul. 

    I teach writing at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall, Minnesota. I enjoy cooking and traveling with my husband Jim, reading, practicing yoga, playing tennis, biking, hiking and gardening.

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